Interlinked packaging bags

ABSTRACT

A group of serially aligned, open ended paper bags are arranged so that the bags can be dispensed to a location for packaging articles such as groceries and then sequentially detached from the group one at a time.

Unite States Patent Norman Nov. 6, 1973 [541 INTERLINKED PACKAGING BAGS2,542,245 2/1951 Gottesman 229 53 x [75] Inventor: Ricliard R. Norman,Palos Verdes FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Peninsula, Calif.

852,997 11/1960 Great Britain 229/69 [73] Assignee: Tony J.Bressickello, Gardena, Calif.

[22] Filed: Nov. 30, 1971 Primary ExaminerSamuel B. Rothberg AssistantExaminerStephen P. Garbe [21] Appl' 203201 Att0rneyPastoriza & Kelly[52] U.S. Cl 229/53, 206/57 A, 229/69 [51] Int. Cl B65d 33/00 ABSTRACT[58] Field of Search 229/53, 69; A group of serially aligned open endedpaper bags are 206/57 A, 56 AB arranged so that the bags can bedispensed to a location [561 ires:21 52521232022?1252221212? UNITEDSTATES PATENTS q y g p 2,413,649 12/1946 Overly 229/69 7 Claims, 3Drawing Figures INTERLINKED PACKAGING BAGS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention generally relates'to bags for packaging articles and morespecifically to a group of detachably interlinked paper bags forgroceries.

Bundles of conventional bags used for packaging groceries mustordinarily be opened by hand and then placed in a storage slot or rackin random order and numbers for subsequent use by the cash registerclerk. After groceries have been checked off by the cash register clerkthey are ordinarily manually packed into the bags which are customarilykraft paper bags.

Attempts have been made to facilitate this job of mechanically openingpaper bags at supermarket checkout stands by providing a blast of airinto the bags from a jet spray nozzle. The bags are not coupled togetherand they are all set upright in a rack with their open ends generallyaligned. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,249 to Finerow granted July 25, 1966.Because the gusseted closed ends are generally aligned and the open endsare likewise generally aligned, the bags become bulky and storage spacebecomes wasted.

In part to eliminate some of the problems associated with kraft paperbags it has been proposed to provide a series of interconnected plasticbags fabricated from a length of tubular plastic. The joined bagstend'to stick together because of the electro static charges collectedon the plastic material. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,939 to Harris et al.granted July 4, 1967.

As shall be fully explained this invention provides a series of kraftpaper bags that are interlinked and arranged in a manner so as to avoida number of the shortcomings mentioned above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly stated this invention comprehendsarranging and interconnecting a series of bags in a special manner tofacilitate their being moved into position for use in packaginggroceries or other articles of merchandise.

Briefly stated, the arrangement or system of bags includes a pluralityof kraft paper type bags having open ends and closed ends and which arecapable of being converted, one at a time, from flattened positions toexpanded positions. The bags are serially aligned with their open endspositioned near the closed ends of adjacent bags so that alternate bagsare oriented in opposite directions.

Interlinking means is arranged to releasably attach ends of consecutivebags.

The bags are of substantially equal size and arranged in a stack in amanner so that the stack height is constant at all points.

In one embodiment the interlinking means is characterized by one or moretear strips extending across the junctions of adjacent bags and thestrips may be perforated to facilitate detachment of adjacent bags.

In accordance with the other embodiment the interlinking means ischaracterized by attachment tabs formed by and struck out from thebottom panels of the kraft paper bags, the tabs being bent intodetachable contact with top margins of adjacent bags.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The numerous benefits and uniqueaspects of the present invention will be fully understood when thefollowing detailed description is studied in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stack of kraft paper bagsinterconnected in a manner in accordance with this invention, showingthe uppermost bag partially inflated and being dispensed along a guideramp;

FIG. 2 is a perspective, fragmentary view of one type of interlinkingmeans, contemplated by one embodiment of this invention; and,

FIG. 3 is a perspective fragmentary view of a type of interlinking meanscontemplated by a second embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to thedrawings in detail and FIG. 1 in particular, a group 10 of kraft typepaper bags is shown. The group 10 of bags is oriented in a verticalstack and for convenience are designated, from top to bottom, bag 8,,bag B bag B bag 8,, bag B etc. The bags are of identical size, aresuperimposed exactly and are detachably hitched together in zig-zagfashion in a manner to be more fully described.

In practice the group 10 of bags would be stored in a bag supplymagazine or hopper located near a checkout stand. The magazine or hoppercould be part of or associated with a bag dispenser and opening unit,such as the one illustrated in copending U.S. Pat. application, Se'r.No. 161,239 filed July 9, 1971 entitled AU- TOMATIC BAG PACKINGAPPARATUS FOR CHECK OUT STAND.

Each bag, referring to bag B for purposes of illustration, has an openor openable end 11 and a conventional gusseted or closed end constitutedby bottom panel 12. A pair of flat, relatively large opposed side panels13 and 14 are joined with a pair of pleated, rela tively narrow opposedside panels 15. and 16.

The consecutive or adjacent bags are securely and releasablyinterconnected by wayof interlinking means shown in the form of a pairof laterally spaced strips 20 and 21 which shall be described in moredetail in conjunction with FIG. 2.

When bundles of conventional kraft paper bags are arranged in racks orstorage spaces near check out stands the bag gusseted'ends or closedends are aligned. Since the gusseted ends are of double-ply thicknessand are flattened against a side panel when the bags are collapsed, thecombined thicknesses of the closed ends are very bulkly. As aconsequence storage space is not economically utilized.

This problem is avoided by this invention iinasmuch as alternate bagsare arranged in opposite directions, i.e.; bags 8,, B and B are orientedwith their open ends directed to the right whereas the intermediate orrelatively alternate bags I3 and B are oriented with their open endsfacing to the left. Therefore at any point in the group 10 of bags itwill be found that the stack height is constant. The height H at one endis equivalent to the height H at the opposite end of the group 10 ofbags. Storage space is thus conserved, the

bags are more neatly aligned and they can be stably stacked. Stacks ofconventional bags in addition to being bulky, assume a general wedgeshape so that eventually the uppermost bags tend to slide and eventuallytopple from the stack.

In order to explain the relationship and coaction of the bags to othercomponents, a scroll shaped ramp is shown which facilitates movement ofthe bags one at a time from the stack to a predetermined location. Theramp 25 has a lower curled edge 26 and a guidance surface 27.schematically shown above the ramp 25 is a conventional inflation means28 that includes an air nozzle 28 aimed generally towards end 11 of bag8,. In practice the nozzle 28 would be oriented much farther down streamor away from the stack of bags.

Any suitable feeding means can be employed to aid in dispensing the bagsone at a time from the stack to a bag inflation station, a bag loadingstation and a bag pick up station. These stations may all be at the samelocation, just two may be at the same location or all three may be atdifferent locations. The important part of the feeding means ischaracterized by the special structural arrangement andinterrelationship of the group 10 of bags. As the uppermost or outermostbag is dispensed and advanced to a new position it automatically, byvirtue of the interlinking means, pulls the next consecutive bag towhich it is detachably attached by the interlinking means to a new andpartially advanced position. The feeding means may optionally include apositive advance mechanism such as one or more pinch rollers. V

. Referring now to FIG. 2 the bag B has an end section of bottom panel12 which partially underlies and constitutes a corner with a section 36of bottom panel 12. Side section 36 has a double ply or double wallthickness which is conventional for kraft paper bags. Bag B has an openend 38 and a pleated side panel 39 which are shown partially opened forillustration. An edge or margin 37 of the bottom panel 12 of bag B isaligned adjacent an edge or margin 40 of the open end 38 of bag B Margin37 and margin 40 are, when bag B is being pulled away from bag Bseparated by a gap G.

The tear strip 21 that constitutes the interlinking means in thisembodiment has an end portion 42 adhered or otherwise attached to bagmargin 40 and an oppositely extending end portion 43 adhered to orotherwise securely attached to bag margin 37. An intermediate or centralportion of tear strip 21 constitutes a,

flexible hinge 44 which is formed transversely with a plurality of slitsor perforations 45. One tear strip of relatively extensive width or twoor more tear strips of relatively narr6w width may be used tointerconnect the bottom ends and open ends of consecutive bags. Theperforations or slits 45 facilitate the effort of separating the bagsfrom one another.

Another embodiment of the interlinking means is shown and described inconnection with FIG. 3 where a rectangular recess is formed in the sidesection 36 of bottom panel 12. The underlying layer or ply 51 is exposedwhen a rectangular section from the overlying layer or ply is partiallycut away and bent out of the plane of bottom panel 12 to constitute atab 52. Tab 52 has a flap section 53 that is adhered or otherwisesecurely attached to the margin 40 of bag B A flexible hinge section 54bridges across the gap G between bags B and B As in the case with tearstrip 21 shown in FIG. 2 the hinge section 54 of tab 52 is formedtransversely with a series of slits or perforations 55 to facilitatetear initiation and eventual detachment.

OPERATION Keeping the above construction in mind it can be understoodhow many of the previously described disadvantages of conventionalpackaging techniques are overcome or substantially eliminated by thepresent invention.

The interlinking means, either the tear strips 20 and 21 of the FIG. 2embodiment or the tab 52 of the FIG. 3 embodiment, are coupled atlocations of the bags so as to detachably interconnect and seriallyalign the bags. This operation may be done mechanically or manually orboth mechanically and manually.

The group of bags is set within a cartridge orv hopper for subsequentuse in packaging articles such as groceries. As bag B is pulled awayfrom the stack of bags it automatically, due to the interlinking means,pulls the next consecutive bag B at least slightly away from the stackso that bags B and B experience simultaneous motion.

At some predetermined downstream station bag B is stopped and afterbeing inflated, is loaded with groceries and then totally physicallyseparated from bag B either mechanically or manually. In eithersituation the tear strips 20 and 21 or the tabs 52 are ripped along theline of perforations after which bag B is prepared for being picked up.

From the forgoing it will be evident that the present invention hasprovided an arrangement of interlinked packaging bags in which all ofthe various advantages are fully realized.

What is claimed is:

1. Interlinked packaging bags for groceries and like articles,comprising:

a. a group of rectangularly shaped collapsed paper grocery bags withopen ends and closed ends and fully closed side panels, the grocery bagsbeing placed lengthwise in a stack with alternate grocery bags beingoriented in opposite directions; and,

b. interlinking means arranged to serially align the grocery bags andreleasably attach one set of adjacent ends of consecutive grocery bags,the interlinking means being a plurality of short and laterally spacedtear strips extending across the junctions of consecutive grocery bagsand physically secured to just the marginal or corner sections of thegrocery bags.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein;

the bags are of the same size and are relatively arranged in a manner sothat the stack of bags is of constant height.

3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein;

the bags are kraft paper bags.

4. The structure according to claim 1, wherein;

an intermediate portion of the tear strips constitutes a flexible hingeformed transversely with perforations to facilitate separatingconsecutive bags.

5. The structure according to claim7 wherein;

the attachment tabs have portions constituting flexible hinges formedtransversely with perforations to facilitate separating consecutivebags.

6. The structure according to claim 1 wherein;

the tear strips are constituted by marginal or corner sections that arebent out of their former positions and securely attached to consecutivegrocery bags.

7. Inter-linked packaging bags comprising:

of consecutive bags, the interlinking means being characterized byattachment tabs struck out from the areas of double-ply thickness andbent to positions where they are securely attached to consecutive bags.

1. Interlinked packaging bags for groceries and like articles,comprising: a. a group of rectangularly shaped collapsed paper grocerybags with open ends and closed ends and fully closed side panels, thegrocery bags being placed lengthwise in a stack with alternate grocerybags being oriented in opposite directions; and, b. interlinking meansarranged to serially align the grocery bags and releasably attach oneset of adjacent ends of consecutive grocery bags, the interlinking meansbeing a plurality of short and laterally spaced tear strips extendingacross the junctions of consecutive grocery bags and physically securedto just the marginal or corner sections of the grocery bags.
 2. Thestructure according to claim 1, wherein; the bags are of the same sizeand are relatively arranged in a manner so that the stack of bags is ofconstant height.
 3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein; thebags are kraft paper bags.
 4. The structure according to claim 1,wherein; an intermediate portion of the tear strips constitutes aflexible hinge formed transversely with perforations to facilitateseparating consecutive bags.
 5. The structure according to claim 7wherein; the attachment tabs have portions constituting flexible hingesformed transversely with perforations to facilitate separatingconsecutive bags.
 6. The structure according to claim 1 wherein; thetear strips are constituted by marginal or corner sections that are bentout of their former positions and securely attached to consecutivegrocery bags.
 7. Inter-linked packaging bags comprising: a. a group ofcollapsed kraft bags with open top ends and closed bottom endsconstructed from panels with areas of double-ply thickness, the bagsbeing placed in a stack with alternate bags being oriented in oppositedirections; and, b. interlinking means arranged to serially align thebags and releasably attach one set of adjacent ends of consecutive bags,the interlinking means being characterized by attachment tabs struck outfrom the areas of double-ply thickness and bent to positions where theyare securely attached to consecutive bags.